Incidence and characteristics of hospitalized patients with pressure ulcers: State of Washington, 1987 to 2000

Background: Pressure ulcers complicate the hospital course of critically injured or ill patients. Guidelines have been promulgated to prevent pressure ulcers in hospitalized patients. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these guidelines have, in fact, reduced the incidence of pressure sores. Methods: The authors examined census data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Washington State Department of Health for the 14-year period 1987 through 2000 and identified patients with a pressure ulcer listed as the primary diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 707.0) and patients admitted for other diagnoses with pressure ulcer as a secondary diagnosis. The authors reasoned that patients who were admitted for treatment of pressure ulcers would have the diagnosis listed as primary, whereas those who were admitted for other reasons and developed pressure ulcers during the admission would have pressure ulcer listed as a secondary diagnosis. Other available data included patient age, sex, procedures for pressure ulcers (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes 15920 through 15999), length of stay, and hospital charges for care. Results: The incidence of pressure ulcers as a primary diagnosis varied from 7.0 to 8.3 per 100,000 population but did not change over the 14-year study period. The rate of operation for these ulcers also did not change. The incidence of pressure ulcers as either a primary or secondary diagnosis doubled from 34.5 to 71.6 per 100,000 (p < 0.001), whereas the incidence of operative procedures for these ulcers did not change. Conclusion: The authors found no evidence that the guidelines for the prevention of pressure ulcers have been effective in decreasing pressure ulcer formation, but it may be that pressure ulcers are now being reported in a more thorough manner.